Latest Activity on The Development CAFÉhttp://www.thedevelopmentcafe.org
Sun, 02 Aug 2015 23:26:47 +0000Sun, 02 Aug 2015 23:26:47 +0000Latest Activity on The Development CAFÉhttp://www.thedevelopmentcafe.org
http://api.ning.com/icons/appatar/2162934?default=2162934&width=50&height=505000000000002100f60000000011b808b56686a7a1344de35dJill Sawers and Abraham J Peck joined The Development CAFÉhttp://www.thedevelopmentcafe.org/profile/JillSawers699?xg_source=activity
Jill Sawers and Abraham J Peck joined The Development CAFÉ

Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to announce the Fall 2015 offering of:DIPLOMA 340: Designing & Funding Sustainable, Community Based Adaptation Projects Blended Training Program—Including:A 5 Day Live Workshop. September 21 - 25, 2015. Pitzer College, Claremont, California Detailed information and logistics. Visit the CBA training program description to find full, detailed information, logistics and a syllabus.http://www.csd-i.org/cba-training-workshop/ Please note: This Community Based Adaptation program is appropriate for both North American Non Profit and International NGO audiences. Program InformationIn this blended learning, 4 month training program you will participate in:PHASE I: Four weeks. September 1 – 25, 2015.3 weeks pre-workshop. Guided Field Data Collection: Community Needs Assessments. Conduct a needs assessment with a target population in preparation for use in the workshop—guided through distance learning by CSDi staff. We will provide all of the tools and information you need to conduct the needs assessments.5 days. A Face-to-Face Workshop. Full Project Design and Development. Working with the CSDi workshop leader, you will use your needs assessment to begin the development of a complete, fundable, launchable project.2 optional field days. Don't have community access? Participate in two additional, optional field days the Saturday and Sunday prior to the workshop conducting a participatory needs assessment with our local partner near the workshop venue. PHASE II: 12 weeks. September 28 - December 18, 2015.Post-workshop: Form a project team, design capacity-building workshops and launch your project. The course will equip you with the tools and techniques you need to improve current project effectiveness, to introduce community-based adaptation into organizational programming, and to generate new projects. This practical training course is appropriate for administrators, policymakers, all levels of practitioners—as well as for students of development. We look forward to working with you in our training programs. Sincerely, Tim Magee, Executive DirectorCenter for Sustainable Development Tim Magee is the author of A Field Guide to Community Based Adaptation published by Routledge, Oxford, England. The Center for Sustainable Development specializes in providing sound, evidence-based information, tools and training for humanitarian development professionals worldwide. CSDi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.See More

]]>Thu, 09 Jul 2015 17:08:02 +000000000000002100f6000000001040d2efb9a84025566954dcTed Mebrahtu is now a member of The Development CAFÉhttp://www.thedevelopmentcafe.org/profile/TedMebrahtu473?xg_source=activity
Ted Mebrahtu is now a member of The Development CAFÉ]]>Wed, 08 Jul 2015 08:26:14 +000000000000002100f6000000000b07882435efc27bb36c904aCB Dahal shared Jennifer Lentfer's blog post on Facebookhttp://www.thedevelopmentcafe.org/xn/detail/2162934:BlogPost:59651?xg_source=activity
CB Dahal shared Jennifer Lentfer'sblog post on Facebook

This post originally appeared on how-matters.org.Below all of the talk of “evidence-based approaches” and “taking it to scale,” there is an undercurrent of disquiet.It happens when “local partners’ capacity” is maligned. It happens when two people have the same idea, but it is considered legitimate only when the white guy in the room offers it. It happens when people of color are passed over for leadership positions, jobs, promotions, or pay raises. It happens when different opinions would be helpful, but perspectives are not asked for, or are discounted. It happens when only 1% of humanitarian relief funds make their way to local organizations in Haiti, in West Africa to fight Ebola, and now in Nepal. It happens when people of color are assumed to have a lower job status than they do and are treated as such. It happens when the stories and photos we use to describe our work reinforce harmful stereotypes. It happens when an approach is suddenly considered “new” or “relevant” only because now donors have “discovered” it.People’s experiences of everyday, subtle racism, or racial microagressions – and the resulting anger, powerlessness, fear, humiliation, and sadness – are not just fleeting instances. They accumulate. And the resulting frustration can result in deep hopelessness in a sector that is supposed to be about equality, fairness, and lifting each other up. The very premise of our industry - that others should live as those in the “developed world” do – has to be acknowledged and exorcised.If US-based development practitioners have learned anything from the discourse on race in our country over the last few tragic weeks (and centuries…), it’s time for some uncomfortable conversations. And if we can’t find the courage to have the conversation now, then when will it happen?I hear plenty of conversations about risk, or rather mitigating it in our sector, over and over in fact. But we need to take the next step to talk about control and power. Who has it? Historically, how did they get it? Systemically, how do they use it? And as a result, who is not welcome at the table when decisions are made?I’m uncomfortable talking about this. Going under the surface is scary. But unless we open up the conversation on racism, sexism, and privilege in the global development sector, we will continue to perpetuate the same, tired system and make the same mistakes – ones that right now we believe can be solved by best practices and improved indicators.When we face uncertainty in the global development sector, we have two choices. We can design (make abstract) and manage (control), or we can inquire (make real) and listen (let go). When our sector focuses our language, our meetings, our reports only the first option, we assume “responsibility to only a certain extent,” as described to me by Semhar Araia.We are too protected by the abstractions of our development lexicon. We can too easily claim our commitment to “results” or “locally-led development” and too easily skip over the racism at the root of the problems we seek to address and the prejudices that color the solutions we profess.Every time I talk about racism on my blog how-matters.org, I realize there’s much more I can and should be doing to advance this discussion in the global development sector. Every time I go to a conference and see a sea of white faces talking about “their” help to poor, brown people in the Global South, I see how much work needs to be done.So I am assuming more responsibility. I need to learn more about people of color’s experience in international aid and philanthropy, if they are willing to share it, and how this can be improved. I need to engage (and challenge) other white people about why they are not doing so. Our sector does so well at ignoring “the political,” but that has got to change, starting with me.Forgive me for the mistakes I will surely make…***Related PostsThe elephant hasn’t left the room: Racism, power & international aidThe westernized nature of the #socent industryThe Marginalization of CBOs by Development Actors: A Perspective from ZimbabweAid, Africa, Corruption, and Colonialism: An Honest Conversation“Query” by Akwasi AidooDoes aid need a 12-step program?How to Work in Someone Else’s Country (A Book Review)“Create” nothing: A new social good mantraSee More